Here Is Where We Fisherman Won!!

[Finman]

I was pretty lucky to grow up fishing quite a few pristine private flyfishing club waters in PA. I fished the Henryville Flyfishers Club waters on the Broadhead in Analomink for some years with Dr. Ted Kowalyshyn. And I fished the Dream Mile waters on the Tobyhanna and the Lehigh Falls Fishing Club waters on the Lehigh too.

In PA, a land owner can own the stream bed and all, unless it is considered a navigable waterway like the Lehigh River is. This baby went all the way to the Superior Court!!! And in this case, the little guy won!!!

http://www.fish.state.pa.us/lehig99.htm

http://www.fish.state.pa.us/lehigdec.htm


So in essence, if you can enter the Lehigh River on public land above the Lehigh Falls Fishing Club waters, you could legally fish all that private club water that has, or at least used to have some huge lunker browns in it!!!

Pretty interesting case, and the little guy never backed down!!!

I knew about this and followed this case from when it started since I knew a few of the club members. Enjoy the read.


Fin

[metalhead]

Very good read!!!!!!!

[Craydaddy]

Thanks for the read Fin!! :D

[Salmo]

So does that mean that applies for all of Pa? Can you fish within the high water mark as long as you accessed the water legally? But how do State agencies define navigable waterways? Too bad it's case specific. If we could use this case against that F...ing fishing club in Erie, we could tell them to go to he!! just as long as we accessed the stream legally and we stayed within the Ordinary High water mark.

As for a navigable water way, the Federal agencies regulate waters that are navigable or tributaries to navigable waters. The US Army Corps of Engineers regulates all non isolated waters. When I refer to "regulate", I mean they regulate any impacts, discharge, fill etc associated with Waters of the Untied States that have a connection to another water.

[Craydaddy]

Dude I don't know the exact definition of navigable waters but the 2 creeks I have are declared navigable to an extent and they are creeks that you would get minnows out of. You can jump across them in high water. We were told that we could not throw anyone off if they walk up the creek. We don't care if anyone gets minnows or crayfish so it doesn't bother us in the least.

That is the one way the PFC is going after this guy.

Here are pics of the one creek. We were dragging our foot bridge back after the spring flood.

http://www.thecraydaddy.com/photos/Truck12.jpg

http://www.thecraydaddy.com/photos/Truck11.jpg

[Junkyard Gypsy]

http://www.nap.usace.army.mil/channel/nww.htm

http://sites.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/Fish_Boat/images/pages/qa/2004/04-05postedland.htm

[Finman]

So does that mean that applies for all of Pa? Can you fish within the high water mark as long as you accessed the water legally?


Yes that does apply to all of PA, BUT, only to waters that are classified as navigable waterways such as the Lehigh River, Allegheny River, Ohio River, Monongahela River, Susquehanna River and it's north and east branches, Juniata River, Schuylkill River and the Delaware River.

Streams and other waters classified as non-navigable can still be completely owned and locked up; stream bed, banks, and all surrounding lands.


Fin

[Ice Pick]

Yes that does apply to all of PA, BUT, only to waters that are classified as navigable waterways such as the Lehigh River, Allegheny River, Ohio River, Monongahela River, Susquehanna River and it's north and east branches, Juniata River, Schuylkill River and the Delaware River.

Streams and other waters classified as non-navigable can still be completely owned and locked up; stream bed, banks, and all surrounding lands.


Fin

I fished in PA on the Susquehanna,and this guy told us he didnt want us fishing in front of his house.Are your saying that he has no right to kick us of the bank of the river?

His house is right on the river but the state had to put huge rocks there for erosion.And we were fishing on those rocks on a steep bank.

[Finman]

I fished in PA on the Susquehanna,and this guy told us he didnt want us fishing in front of his house.Are your saying that he has no right to kick us off the bank of the river?

His house is right on the river but the state had to put huge rocks there for erosion.And we were fishing on those rocks on a steep bank.


I can't say that for sure, as I'm definitely no lawyer and am not well versed in the riparian owner rights, so I don't know if the rocks are considered part of the river and hence part of the Commonwealth of PA or not, but in that Lehigh River case, the fisherman waded down into Lehigh Falls Fishing Club water and legally there wasn't a damn thing they could do to stop him from continuing fishing!!

Maybe it's the high water mark you must stay within? Maybe you must actually still be in the water? I don't know...

But I do know that I would either want to see and read the law myself or hear it told to me from a licensed lawyer before I would test anything out on just hearing it from anybody else's "interpretation".


Fin

[viking]

Thanks Fin. Good read. Ice Pick the way I understood that was you can fish it as long as you access it in the water and stay in the water. You raise a good point though. Who put the rocks there? If it was the state would that be state property? If the rocks weren't there water would be due to the erosion. If the land owner put them there,did he place them on state property? If the water eroded the owners land does the owner still own the new river bed where his property once was? Or does the new river bed become property of the state? One part of the opinion stated that if you build on navigatable waterways you build at your own risk. That would lead me to beleive that the state would own any new river bed that was created by water erosion. I could be completely wrong, but it is an interesting question.:fishing2:

[wolverine]

Great read..Thanks for the info..Good to see the little guy wins one..Glad he stuck to his guns...:) :fishing2: :fish: